COQ10 versus Idebenone?

We are new to this and have been on 200mg COQ10 once a day and see a few children on Idebenone instead. I know this is related to COQ10, but is a lot more expensive. I also know Idebenone undergoing trial for Duchenne usage. Does anyone have any light to shed on this one? Is Idebenone better than COQ10?

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Hi there. My experience of idebenone is actually from treatment of another mitochondrial condition, LHON, but I believe the mechanism is the same for both conditions. I am not a scientist but my understanding is that idebenone was originally developed as an "improved" version of CoQ10 that is identical in chemical structure except in one small respect. That change is designed to make idebenone more readily absorbed into the cell structure - a major issue with CoQ10 being difficulty of delivering it to where it is needed. It has been in use for around 30 years now with a very low reported adverse effect ratio and in some conditions (treatment of Friedrich's Ataxia) the dosage is as high as 2,500mg per day.

Pharmaceutical grade idebenone is unaffordably expensive for most, but as it is off-patent it is quite widely available as a health supplement - "Relentless Improvement" and Kirkman Labs are two online retailers (in the US) that are most often recommended as reliable sources.

For specific benefits in MD you will have to look to others, but I hope that as a simple guide to what it is and how to get it then this is of some help.

hi debbie.it is about 3 weeks that we have started idebenone.my son is also on deflazacort for 2 months.currently he is full of energy and strength and i don't know it is only because of steroid. he was on Co-q10 for 1 months and i certainly could say it has significants effects on his brain function.

based on idebenone production facts, it has more performance than coq10 and in some situations co-q10 could reverse its action and increase oxidation process,also percent of absorbtion is low ,in idebenone no reverse action and hi absorbtion .

currently we give hime idebenone and coq -10 together.one day 150 mg idebenone and one day 100 mg coq10.

Thanks Mehrzad, what brand do you use? and where do you purchase it from? Regards debbie

mehrzad haidari said:

hi debbie.it is about 3 weeks that we have started idebenone.my son is also on deflazacort for 2 months.currently he is full of energy and strength and i don't know it is only because of steroid. he was on Co-q10 for 1 months and i certainly could say it has significants effects on his brain function.

based on idebenone production facts, it has more performance than coq10 and in some situations co-q10 could reverse its action and increase oxidation process,also percent of absorbtion is low ,in idebenone no reverse action and hi absorbtion .

currently we give hime idebenone and coq -10 together.one day 150 mg idebenone and one day 100 mg coq10.

Hi, how does your son take this? Ours can't swallow capsules and the CoQ10 being in oil form is easy to squeeze out and eat with almond butter, could we do the same with this? Cant seem to find out on the website if it is in oil form or not.

Hi Govind. I've never seen it in liquid or chewable form, but I just open up the capsule (the Idebenone is actually an orange powder inside) and mix it with a little melted chocolate in ice-cube trays. Once set, you have 'idebenone chocolates' which my little boy eats with no problem. The idebenone itself is pretty tasteless.